For specific groups

The 28th March saw a Westminster Hall debate on the disclosure of youth criminal records (read here or watch here). This followed the publication of the Justice Select Committee’s report on the subject, back in 2017. The report itself was a result of the Committee’s inquiry into disclosure of youth criminal records, launched in 2016,

Looking back over the last couple of months, we’ve written up a few examples of the people we’ve helped. We hope they give a good idea of how we help people. However, more importantly than our role, we think that these examples show how people with convictions are able to overcome some of the barriers

Will started a thread on theForum when he wanted information about opening a bank account with a fraud conviction. Following his conviction, Will had set up an online shop which had become quite successful and although he had run his company through his personal bank account, he wanted to open a business account. He’d applied

Shortly after joining theForum, Adam started a thread asking how other members coped with their emotions. He stated that one day he’d be fine and felt able to cope with anything life threw at him, and the next he’d be extremely depressed having realised that, as a person with a conviction, he was unemployable. Several

When he was aged 18, Nathan received a three year custodial sentence for GBH. Twenty three years later, having put his past conviction behind him, Nathan was offered a job as a court usher. He knew that he’d need a criminal record check and was surprised that after working for 5 months, he’d still not

Dan thought he had a good understanding of criminal records. He also felt that more and more employers had started to ask about criminal records which had made it harder for him to secure a job. Although his conviction was very old, Dan was also registered disabled. His disability didn’t prevent him from working, but

Keen to support her husband in a custody case where he was trying to gain access to his children from a previous relationship, Olivia was surprised when her criminal record was mentioned in the case in the Family Court. Despite explaining that she hadn’t been in any trouble for over five years and that her

After being the victim of domestic violence, Julia was moved to a women’s refuge. She was working for an agency at the time but, following this incident, didn’t feel that she was in a fit state to attend work. Despite contacting the agency prior to the start of her shift and letting them know that

We were contacted recently by an individual who was concerned about the criminal record question being asked on a Council’s housing reference form and the fact that the Council were asking applicants to give authorisation to the Council to carry out a police check. The question relating to criminal records asked: “Have you been convicted

We were recently contacted by an individual who was concerned about a question relating to criminal records on a generic college application form. This asked: “Do you have any criminal convictions, cautions, reprimands, final warnings or prosecutions pending?” The individual felt that the college should be a lot more specific about what they needed an

Liam contacted our helpline after his employer dismissed him for failing to disclose his unspent conviction. Liam explained to us that he’d originally been employed on a temporary basis through a recruitment agency before being taken on by the company approximately 6 months later as a permanent member of staff. When he’d signed up with

Teresa contacted our helpline as she needed advice following a meeting with her employers to discuss an anonymous ‘tip off’ they’d received that she was “a drug addict with convictions for drug offences”. Teresa explained that in the past she had taken drugs and had also received a caution for possession. However, as her caution